BOP Prisoners Habeas Hepatitis Suit Dismissed by The bottom line of this opinion, 59 pages in Westlaw, is that the court treats the plaintiff's medical care claim, filed as a habeas petition, as a civil rights action, denies appointment of counsel, holds the prisoner partially exhausted, and grants summary judgment …
$205,000 Settlement in Massachusetts Strip Search Suit by On December 27, 2006, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts agreed to pay $205,000 to settle a class action lawsuit alleging hundreds of arrestees were illegally strip searched at the Hampshire Jail and House of Corrections between January 18, 2002 and November 7, 2002. …
Failure to Treat Rectal Cyst For 30 Months States Claim by The plaintiff had a cyst near his rectum. One doctor refused to examine him despite his complaints of pain. A second doctor said the cyst needed to be "lanced out" but did not do anything except provide medication for …
Record $3.2 Million Settlement for Wrongfully Imprisoned Massachusetts Man by Michael Rigby The City of Boston, Massachusetts, has agreed to pay $3.2 million to a man who spent 10 ½ years in prison for a rape he did not commit. The March 2006 settlement is believed to be the largest …
Wrongly Imprisoned Massachusetts Man Settles Suit Against City For $2,450,000 by On October 14, 2005, the City of Chicopee, Massachusetts, paid $2,450,000 to settle with a man who was falsely convicted of rape and imprisoned for 14 years before DNA evidence exonerated him. Eduardo Velazquez was convicted in 1987 of …
Massachusetts Prisoner Awarded $60,000 For Electrical Shock by In March 2005, a jury in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, awarded $60,000 to a state prisoner who was shocked by a faulty light fixture in his cell. As Michael Paolillo arose from a nap to urinate in his prison cell, he placed his …
Massachusetts Prisoners Battle MRSA, Untreated Hepatitis C by Michael Rigby Kerry M. Castello is infected with hepatitis C, a disease that is slowly destroying his liver. But because Massachusetts prison officials are short on funds, he cant get the treatment he desperately needs. Castello, 41, was first diagnosed with hepatitis …
Cell-Block Beatdown: Do Boston Prisoners Have Any Chance of Holding Abusive Prison Guards Responsible? Signs Are Not Promising by David S. Bernstein Cell-Block Beatdown: Do Boston Prisoners Have Any Chance of Holding Abusive Prison Guards Responsible? Signs Are Not Promising by David S. Bernstein Stories about prison guards beating up …
BOP Enjoined from Terminating Boot Camp Program by A Massachusetts federal district court has entered a preliminary injunction against the Bureau of Prisons (BOP), enjoining it from terminating its boot camp" incarceration program, pending compliance with the Administrative Procedures Act (APA), and requiring good faith consideration of the plaintiff for …
Civil Commitment of Massachusetts Sex Offenders Expanding by by Michael Rigby Massachusetts prosecutors are using recent changes in state law to expand the number of sex offenders imprisoned through civil commitment, and it's costing taxpayers millions. In 2004 and 2005, the Massachusetts legislature and Governor Mitt Romney greatly expanded the …
BOP's Failure to Provide Adequate Medical Treatment Nets Downward Departure Sentence by A Massachusetts federal district court has departed from the Federal Sentencing Guidelines because of the defendant's illness and the Bureau of Prisons' (BOP) failure to meet its burden that it could provide the most effective" medical treatment. Robert …
Massachusetts Prisoner Awarded $250,000 for Assault During Strip Search by On March 25, 2005, a federal jury awarded a Massachusetts prisoner $250,000 in damages for injuries sustained when he was assaulted by a guard during a strip search. Guards William Shugrue and a Jeffrey Padula were members all the Inner …
Massachusetts DOC Denies Two, Approves One, Same-Sex Marriages by Massachusetts DOC Denies Two, Approves One, Same-Sex Marriages by Matthew T. Clarke The Massachusetts Department of Corrections (DOC) has denied the request of two civilly-committed sex offenders to marry. It also denied a similar request by two other male prisoners, but …
What's Wrong With the ACA? by Elizabeth Alexander The American Correctional Association (ACA) is the largest and best-known organization of prison and jail staff in the country. It offers higher education programs designed to train prison industry professionals and, like a traditional professional association, it certifies persons as members in …
Massachusetts DOC Fails to Meet Women's Special Needs by by Michael Rigby The failure of the Massachusetts Department of Corrections (MDOC) to address the special needs of women in prison impedes the effective maintenance of family ties, according to a March 2005 research report by the University of Massachusetts's Center …
$99,981 In Fees Awarded For Successful Massachusetts Court Access Suit by Michael Rigby In a strongly worded opinion chastising Massachusetts officials for over 1itigating a case in which a prisoner's constitutional right of access to courts was clearly violated, a federal district court awarded attorneys' fees and costs of $99,981 …
Massachusetts Law, Not PLRA, Applies to Attorneys Fee Award in State Court § 1983 Action for Native by Massachusetts Law, Not PLRA, Applies to Attorneys Fee Award in State Court § 1983 Action for Native American Rights A Massachusetts Superior Court has held that the determination of an appropriate attorney's …
First Circuit Rejects Interlocutory Appeal for Authorities Accused of Frame-Up by by Robert H. Woodman In a case involving charges of frame-up and cover-up by former Massachusetts and federal authorities brought by former Massachusetts state prisoners, their family members, estates, and survivors, the United States First Circuit Court of Appeals …
Massachusetts Court Imposes Time Limits For Unrepresented Criminal Defendants by The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts held that if an attorney is unavailable to represent an indigent criminal defendant, the defendant must be released within 7 days and the case against that defendant dismissed within 45 days. This consolidated case …
Massachusetts Jail Prisoner Awarded $20,000 For Crushed Knuckle by Massachusetts Jail Prisoner Awarded $20,000 For Crushed Knuckle A superior court in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, awarded $20,000 to a man who sustained a knuckle fracture when a cell door was allegedly opened without warning. Plaintiff Gary Taylor, 47, was arrested for …
